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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Zion Mayor Billy McKinney | ||||||
| 4 | on becoming the first Northwestern men's basketball player to | ||||||
| 5 | have his jersey number retired; and | ||||||
| 6 | WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney is considered by many to be the | ||||||
| 7 | best player in Northwestern history; and | ||||||
| 8 | WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney scored 1,900 career points, a | ||||||
| 9 | school record that stood for 35 years, and led the Wildcats in | ||||||
| 10 | scoring each season of his collegiate career; his 768 made | ||||||
| 11 | field goals still stand as the program's all-time record; he | ||||||
| 12 | earned All-Big Ten recognition in all of his four seasons and | ||||||
| 13 | garnered First Team All-Conference and All-America honors as a | ||||||
| 14 | senior when he averaged 21.3 points per game; a Wildcat has not | ||||||
| 15 | made 17 or more field goal attempts in a game since he posted | ||||||
| 16 | 37 points against Notre Dame in 1974; he was named the first | ||||||
| 17 | three-time team MVP in program history from 1975-77, under | ||||||
| 18 | head coach Tex Winter, who would later be the long-time | ||||||
| 19 | assistant coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers; | ||||||
| 20 | and | ||||||
| 21 | WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney played eight years in the NBA | ||||||
| 22 | (1978-85) with the Kansas City Kings, Utah Jazz, Denver | ||||||
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| 1 | Nuggets, San Diego Clippers, and Chicago Bulls; he was | ||||||
| 2 | nicknamed The Crazed Hummingbird and still holds the NBA | ||||||
| 3 | rookie record for most made field goals without a miss; and | ||||||
| 4 | WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney served as an executive and scout | ||||||
| 5 | in NBA front offices for over 30 years; while working as a | ||||||
| 6 | Bulls scout, he was the only scout to watch Scottie Pippen play | ||||||
| 7 | in Arkadelphia, Ark., guiding the team to trade for Pippen in | ||||||
| 8 | 1987 and form one of the NBA's greatest dynasties with Michael | ||||||
| 9 | Jordan; he was the first African-American front office | ||||||
| 10 | executive in franchise history; and | ||||||
| 11 | WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney became the first general manager | ||||||
| 12 | of the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves in 1992 and later | ||||||
| 13 | worked as GM for the Detroit Pistons and the WNBA's Seattle | ||||||
| 14 | Storm; as the director of scouting for the Milwaukee Bucks, he | ||||||
| 15 | was instrumental in drafting Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2013; | ||||||
| 16 | and | ||||||
| 17 | WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney has served as the mayor of his | ||||||
| 18 | hometown, Zion, since 2019; his family planted roots in Zion | ||||||
| 19 | in the summer of 1962, and he attended Elmwood Elementary | ||||||
| 20 | School, Central Middle School, and Zion-Benton Township High | ||||||
| 21 | School, where he was a 1973 Honor Roll student and graduate; | ||||||
| 22 | and | ||||||
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Mayor McKinney is still heavily involved with the | ||||||
| 2 | Northwestern men's program and is the team's radio color | ||||||
| 3 | analyst; the Northwestern University Department of Athletics | ||||||
| 4 | and Recreation annually presents The Billy McKinney Award to | ||||||
| 5 | the male student-athlete who has exhibited exemplary | ||||||
| 6 | leadership qualities; therefore, be it | ||||||
| 7 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 8 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 9 | we congratulate Zion Mayor Billy McKinney on becoming the | ||||||
| 10 | first Northwestern men's basketball player to have his jersey | ||||||
| 11 | number retired; and be it further | ||||||
| 12 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
| 13 | presented to Mayor McKinney as a symbol of our respect and | ||||||
| 14 | esteem. | ||||||